An exclusive peek at the money-saving Dealnews iPhone app

I’ve got an aversion to paying full price for anything, but I still contribute to the economy far too often. Deal sites have saved me thousands of dollars on purchases, especially during the holidays, so I was thrilled to snag an exclusive sneak peek at the new Dealnews app for iPhone and iPod Touch. Created […]

I’ve got an aversion to paying full price for anything, but I still contribute to the economy far too often. Deal sites have saved me thousands of dollars on purchases, especially during the holidays, so I was thrilled to snag an exclusive sneak peek at the new Dealnews app for iPhone and iPod Touch. Created by the website of the same name, Dealnews offers more than 100 daily specials and coupons for vetted bargains at reputable retailers and, now the savings are going truly mobile in app format.

The Dealnews app pulls in most of the normal web content, displaying deals in list format. Typically, you’ll be shown featured deals first (and I actually prefer the app’s list format to the regular web display), but if new deals arrive, they’ll be shown in a separate “New” tab. This is advantageous for refreshers, and will help ensure that regular users of the app never miss anything — smart. Deals can be viewed in specific category, and opening any bargain will show you all pertinent details for snagging the deal. There are “Buy Now” and “Save” options — saving is ideal for users uncomfortable with purchasing via iDevice, and will appear in your “Alerts” tab. This is also useful for keeping store coupon codes close at hand.

Speaking of alerts, here users can create customized alerts for specific keywords, products or retailers. Dealnews says that push notifications will appear within two minutes of a deal’s arrival, which should be plenty of time for shoppers to snag all but the craziest of promotions. This feature can also be synced with existing Dealnews accounts, so you can manage all your notifications from one location.

I did find Dealnews to be on the slow side when fetching new or opening displayed deals, but I have hope that this issue will be addressed before the app’s official launch. I was also disappointed to see that the web images were not up to retina standard, and marred the app’s aesthetic. The low-res imagery didn’t prevent me from finding deals, however, but, hey, I’m particular. I’d also love to see location-specific deals included in future updates (Dealnews.com offers up a Chicago-centric tab, for instance.)

I’ll be keeping Dealnews on my iPhone — and that only spells trouble for my credit cards.